Drill-rod packing



Dec. 2, 1924.

C. C. HANSEN DRILL ROD PACKING Filed Sept.

Wl @NYE lNvENToR made.; (fila/as en vplms Y so t at any satisfactory packmg for such Patented Dec. 2, 1924. A l

UNITED*v .cHABLEso HANSEN, OE EAs'rON, PENNSYLVANIA, V AssIeNon ro :Newsom-RAND COMPANY, or JERSEY cIrYLNEwjEBsEY, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

'A DRILL-Bon PACKING.

4Application lll-ed September 14, 1923. Serial No. 662,748. v

To all 'whom t may'cfmcem.:

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. HANSEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of` Easton, county of Northampton, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain Drill-Rod Packing, of which the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings.

This invention relates to well drills and more particularly to drills of the rotary type having a cutting bit attached toa rotary spindle or drill rod, such, for instance, as a core drill. In drillingoil and other Ilwells, gas pressure of considerable magnitude are frequently encountered when a certain depth has been reached. Uncontrolled escape of such gas presents a danger on account ofthe damage likely to be done to persons and the equipment, aswell as be-V cause OfA the impossibility of carrying on the drilling operation. Various means have therefore been employed to pack the well against unintentional escape of the gas during the drilling, as well as during the rais- 'ing and lowering of the drill rods and drilling tools, but it has heretofore been diiicult to satisfactorilyv prevent the escape of gas from a well in'which a. core drill of the type mentioned above was being used. This is artly due to the fact that outside coupled dri rods are usually employed, the coubeing of larger diameter than therods,

drill rods must provide for a tight closure at all times inspite of the difference in the diameter of the drill rod.

The primary ob'ect of the present invention is to elect su stantially pressure tight of the well around the drill lrod and totig tly pack the drill rod during the operation of the drill, and to facilitate passage Of portions of the drill rod of diil'erent diameter past thel seal in either direction without permitting any appreciable amount of the gas under pressureitoescape. A :tur-y ther object is to effect' automatic adjustment of the packing members to permit assage of the portions of the drill r of larger diameter during the lowering and raising' thereof. y

A still further object is to enable the packing members to reclprocate in a. direction at right angles to the drill rod; to Operate-,the

packing members by liuid pressure; and to impart fluid pressure resistance to the passage of the portions of the drill rods of larger diameter during the hoisting and vlowering of the drilling tools. Still further objects will hereinafter appear, and to he ends set forth` the invention consists in the several features of construction Iand operation set forth in the following specification and shown in one preferred embodiment in the annexed drawing, forming a part hereof, in which l Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view partly broken away, of a typical core drill outfit in place ina well lbeing drilled, showing the .invention applied thereto;

. Figure 2 is a transverse sectional viewA taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing one-pair of reciprocating packing members in operative position; and

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view of the reciprocating packing members as seen in Figure 1, illustrating the ope-ration thereof.

The drawings show dia ammatically, an oil well of considerable epth, which may be from 1000 to 2500 feet "or more. first or outer casing A usually extends to a depth of from 800 to 2000 feet and is tightly embedded at its lower end B. The top of the casing A is also' suitably secured as by beingscrew threaded at the bottom of the working chamber C, which -is cased into a suitable depth below the surface. The inner casing D extends below the outer casing A substantially to the bottom of the well. The rotary drill rod or spindle composed of the rod sections E connected by outside couplings F extends through the casing A, and the core barrel and bit G is connected to the lowermost rod section E. The drillA s indleis rotated in the usual manner and e drilling is continued with the bit G until he gas strata H has been reached where lthe gas encountered may be under any pressure up to from 1500 to 2000 pounds per square inch. Means are provided in the working) chamber C for sealing the inner casing and preventing unintentional escape ,of the gas. In thisinstance two pairs of oppositely acting reciprocal-,Ory packing members J and J are suitably mounted within a vpacking' box K around the drill rod in position to reciprocate and alter- PATENT OFFICE;-

The

nately embrace the drill rod upon opposite sides and constitute an effective seal. The packing members J and J are designed to pack the drill rod and substantially prevent leakage during the operation of the drill and to facilitate the passage of either the rod sections E of smaller diameter or couplmgs F of larger diameter between the members J and J during the lowering and tion O is suitably secured to the top or' the,

inner casing D, as by the screw threaded flange Q.. r1`he top of the relief valve connection P is closed by a circular end plate R having a central aperture S, the diameter of which aperture S is such as to enable the drill rod couplings F to pass through. A disk T of rubber or other suitable compressible material is interposed between the plate R and connections P. This disk T as an opening U concentric with the aperture S but of slightly less diameter, so that a relatively tight fit is provided about the larger and smaller diameter portions of the drill rod during their movement into and out ofthe well casing.

The pressure bleeder valveO is Adesigned to permit a controlled flow of gas to escape from the well when desired. The gate valve L enables the well casing to be tightly sealed up after removal of the drill rods and other toolsfrom the well. The comi pressible diskT tends to prevent the escape of any aas whichA may leak past the seal formed by the packing members J and J and the relief valve P permits the safe controlled removal of such gas.

The packing members J and J are in the form of opposite substantially rectangular blocks ada ted to kreciprocate in the packing box and having vrooves V adapted to embrace the drill r when the blocks meet.

Fluid pressure means are preferably provided for electin reciprocation of the packing blocks towarf and away from each other, into and out of engagement with the drill rod E. In the tpresent instance parts of Huid pressure cylin ers W are located on oppo' site sides of the packing box K. The' cylinders W are provided with pistons X having rods -Y to the extremities of which the packing blocks J, J are secured. Pressure fluid is admitted to the cylinders W to actuate the pistons of the packing members through inlet ports a and b and exhausted through ports d and e located at opposite ends of the cylinder.

A pressure uid supply conduit f leading from Va suitable source of supply (not shown) is adapted to convey the pressure fluid which may be steam, compressed air or gas, to the cylinders through branch pips g and h.

the present instance two pairs of fluid pressure operated packing blocks are employed, one pair beine located in the upper portion of the packing pair in the lower portlon. The respective pairs of blocks are adapted to act alternately, the former during the lowerin of the drill tools and the latter when the rilling tools are being hoisted out of the hole. The' branch pipes g and h. are provided with valves ifa-nd k for controlling the fluid admission to opposite ends of the cylindersV W and similar valves or pet cocks p and g for controlling the exhaust from the cylinders. The valves j, lc f) and g are independently manually operab e so that one pair of acking blocks J or J may be actuated mdependently of the other air, or the regulation may be coordinate so that one pair will come into operation while the other is rendered inoperative.

In the operation of the device, assuming the parter to be in the position shown in 'Figure 1, the packing members J are held in place about the drill rod E by the pistons X, uider pressure supplied through the inlet ports a, and the exhaust ports e are open.

box and another The packin kmembers J are retracted Vfrom l provided for raising the drilling ltools. ln Y the upward movement of the drill rod the portions F of larger diameter engaae the under sides of the acking members J and move the members 5)" ders sullciently to allow the couplings of larger .diameter to pass by. Flexible resistance to such movement is imparted by the fluid llressure in the cylinders, so that as soon as t e coupling has left the packing membersthe fluld pressure in the cylinders will act on the pistons and cause the pack-V ing members to return to their normal position. The opening movement of the ,pack ing members is sufficient to enable the core barrel G to also pass through the packing box K, after which the te valve L may be closed to completely sea the well casing.

backward in the c lin-V When the drilling tools are to be lowered Y are open and the inlet ports and exhaust ports (I of the lower opposite pair ot' cylinders also open, the inlet ports b and exhaust ports d of the upper pair of cylinders being closed and the inlet ports a and exhaust ports e of the lower pair of cylinders also bein closed. The drill rod will then be packe by the upper packing members J and the lower packing members J will be inoperative. During the lowering of the drilling tools the packing members J will act in the same manner as 4the members J during the hoisting operation. The Urooved ends of the packing members J and J are chamfered as shown at 7' to facilitate the passage'- of the couplings F of larger vdiameter and bit G. The grooves may also be chamfered on the opposite sides as shown at t to make the fit between the packing members and drill rod as light as possible so that the interval of opening of the packing members will be as brief as possible during the passage of the larger diameter portions through the packing members.

Leak ports u are provided behind the packing members J and to prevent fluid pressure from building up and impeding the movement of the packing members.

I claim: l l

1. In combination with a well casing and a drill rod composed of portions of different diameter, oppositely acting pairs of reciprocating members having grooves adapted to alternately embrace a portion of the drill rod of smaller diameter, and luid pressure operated means for normally maintaining one pair of packing members in engagement with the drill rod and permitting movement of a portion of the drill rod of larger diameter past said engaging pair of packing members and acting to restore said members to normal position as said portion oi' the drill rod of larger diameter passes out of engagement with said members;

2. A packing device for drill rods, comprising a well casing and a drill rod adapted to operate therein, said drill rod being composed of a plurality of separate sections with joints between the sections of larger diameter, pairs of oppositely acting reciprocating packing members having grooves adapted toembrace the drill rods to substantiallyA seal the well casing and Huid pressure operated means for normally maintaining one of said pairs of packing members in engagement with the drill rod and another pair out of engagement therewith.

3. A packing device for drill rods, comprising a well casing and a drill rod adapted to operate therein, said drill rod being composed of a plurality of separate sections with joints between the sections of larger diameter, and pairs of oppositely acting reciprocating packing members having grooves adapted to embrace the drill rods to substantially seal the well casing, and Huid pressure operated means for normally maintaining one of said pairs of packing members in engagement with the drill rod and another pair out of engagement therewith, said packing members being adapted to permit passage of the portions of the drill rod ot larger diameter and to return to normal position.

4. A packing device for drill rods, comprising a well casing and a drill rod adapted to operate there1n,`said drill rod being composed of a plurality of separate sections with joints between the sections of different diameter, pairs of oppositely acting grooved reciprocating packing members and fluid pressure operated means for causing one of said pairs to engage the drill rods to substantially seal the `well casing, while the other pair remains inoperative, and permitting limited movement of said engaging pair of members as the portions of larger diameter pass the seal.

5. A packing device for drill rods comprising a well casing and a drill rod adapted to operate therein, said drill rod being composed of a plurality of separate sections with joints of flarger diameter between the sections, iluid pressure cylinders at opposite sides of said casing, pistons in said cylinders, a pair of grooved packing members adapted to embrace opposite sides of said drill rod, said packing members being connected to said pistons, and means for maintaining said packing members in engagement with the drill rod to effect substantial sealing of the well casing, said packing members being adapted to permit passage of the joints of larger diameter and said means interposing resistance to such passage vtending to return the members to operative position.

6. A packing device for drill rods, comprising a well casing and a drill rod adapted to operate therein, said drill rod being composed of a plurality of separate sections with joints of larger diameter between the sections and pairs of cooperating reciprocating packin members having grooves adapted to em race opposite sides of said drill rod to effect substantial sealing of the well casing during passage of the drill rod between said members', and Huid operated means for effecting movement of the packing members to cause one pair to engage the drill rod while another pair remains out of engagement, and permitting passage of the joints' of larger diameter past the seal formed by the engaging pair of packing members.

7. ln combination with a well casing and a drill rod having portions of different diameter, packing members adapted to re- -ciprocate toward and away from the drill rod to embrace the portion of the drill rod llo of smaller diameter, iiuid pressure o rated to impart resistance to the reciproeation ofY means for holdin the packing mem rs in the packing members and eect return of substantially ui tight engagement with the members to normal ition. v the 'drillr rod, said packing members being In testimony whereo Ir have signed this adapted to reciprocate to permit passa e of specification. the portions of the drill rod of larger eter, and said holding means being adaptedy CHARLES C. HANSEN. 

